Bill Burnham was driving home Friday afternoon when he ran into a traffic jam a few blocks from his house in Brockton. He heard there had been an accident, but didn’t know much more until he got home and the phone rang.

The woman killed in the accident was driving a brand new blue Jaguar, he was told. The same make and color of car he’d given his wife as an early 50th birthday present.

And then he knew.

Burnham’s wife, Maryanne Kotsiopoulos, was killed when her car was struck in the intersection of Centre and Quincy streets by a car driven by Antwoin Moore, 27, of Brockton. She would have turned 50 on Oct. 25.

Brockton police detectives had pulled over Moore at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Crescent Street, less than a mile away from where the crash happened about 4:30 p.m. Moore, investigators said, stopped the car but then floored it, striking a police cruiser and nearly hitting an officer who was walking toward the car.

Moore narrowly avoided several vehicles as he raced up Crescent and took a left onto Quincy Street, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office said in a press release. He drove through a red light at the intersection with Centre Street and slammed into Kotsiopoulos’ car, causing an eight-car pile up that killed her and sent several other people to nearby Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital.

The pursuit lasted less than a minute.

Burnham is asking why it happened at all.

“I want to know why there was a high-speed chase during rush hour,” Burnham said through tears, sitting at the kitchen table at his home Saturday morning.

Brockton police would not comment on the details of what happened in the seconds before the fatal collision. State police are handling the investigation. They referred all questions to state police.

“I just felt that in the interest of transparency that this should be viewed by another agency,” Brockton Police Chief Emmanuel Gomes said Saturday. He added that he has “full faith in the integrity of the officers” involved.

Gomes said that the department has a rigid policy concerning pursuits, but would not elaborate on what the policy is.

He added that he will be conducting an internal investigation parallel to the state police probe to make sure policies and procedures were followed on Friday.

“We’re going to do a thorough investigation. The public and the victim’s family deserves answers,” Gomes said. “It’s a horrific tragedy.”

Police have not released information about why Moore was pulled over, but Lt. Paul Bonanca said Saturday that the incident began as a narcotics investigation. Members of the police gang unit were also at the accident scene.

Page 2 of 2 - Burnham said his wife was a driver for the North River Collaborative, and spent her days helping disabled children.

“She was always smiling,” he said.

Kotsiopoulos was a stepmother to Burnham’s daughter.

“She was just a shining star to everybody,” added his sister Ann Loring. “She was the most caring person, she brought a smile to everyone.”

Burnham said Maryanne was well-known around Brockton. When he arrived at the crash scene, one of the police officers, Eric Smith, grabbed him in a bear hug. Smith had recognized the car as well.